A tech company in China came up with a unique incentive to motivate their staff while looking out for their health recently by launching a weight loss “boot camp” for their overweight employees.
According to South China Morning Post, the company, located in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, provided a financial incentive of nearly one million yuan (RM647,789) to employees who lost weight.
A total of 150 workers reportedly lost a whooping 800 kilograms (kg), rewarded with a cash bonus of 980,000 yuan (RM634,833) altogether.
The company’s boot camp is three months long, with 30 employees registered at one time - prioritising those who are overweight or obese, since many staff have applied for the programme.
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In the boot camp, members are divided into three groups with two groups comprising of 10 individuals while the third group had five individuals. The staff are weighed weekly and for every 0.5kg each group lost on average, each person is rewarded 400 yuan (RM259) as a result.
But if the scales are tipped the other way round, each group member will be fined 500 yuan (RM323).
With this, all the workers in the boot camp has not gained a single pound within the programme’s three-month period.
One of the employees, surnamed Li, said the groups represent employees’ “moral dimensions”, as quoted, as they do not want to lug their co-workers behind if any of them gained weigh, also affecting their own bonuses.
Li joined the company’s boot camp back in November 2023 attracted by the company’s incentive as well as concerned for his health as he weighed 90kg, deeming it too heavy for his 1.75 metre height, earning himself 7,410 yuan (RM4,800) and losing 17.5kg in total.
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